Mr. Sammler's Planet

Mr. Artur Sammler is a man who has lasted, from the civilized England of the '20s and '30s through the war and death camps in Poland. As he moves now through the dangerous streets of New York, curious and disinterested in all he sees, he ponders the future of life on this planet.

I got through Chapter 1 and gave up. I was impressed with the writing, but the one-note narration did not encourage me to continue with this in the audiobook format. You may ask if I listened to a sample online before ordering, and I ask myself as well. What was I thinking? I'll have to finish this book in the print format, which isn't the worst fate to suffer.

The Poet

Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work.

Followers of the Harry Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series will want to sample this non-series title, but they will find the performance not up to the standards of the audiobook narrators of those series. If you've never tried Connelly before, start with either of those series to get hooked on the author, then circle back and fill in with The Poet. While the narrator is competent and does a decent job differentiating the voices of male characters, I find his main voice and little...well, goofy, and occasionally lispy. A minor distraction from the writing, so not the best introduction to Michael Connelly.

A Town Like Alice

Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.

The story starts off well with a harrowing tale of survival during WWII, but then degenerates to a sudsy romance and the self-actualization of the plucky heroine, with a little animal slaughter and casual racism mixed in. It may have been cutting-edge stuff when originally published in 1950 but comes off now as sadly dated. (Nevertheless, I am interested in finding the TV mini-series and watching it...perhaps the ideal format for this work.) The narration is excellent, though, with the reader doing a great job with a variety of accents, including various Australians whose voices are well-disguished from one another.

I love all of the books, and Christian Rodska's performances are uniformly superb, but this is the most exciting book. If you're not working through the series (and you really should), then listen to this one if you listen to no other.

From Here to Eternity

Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets "the treatment" that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood...and, possibly, their death.

This story of an army base on Oahu in the months preceding the Pearl Harbor attack is over-written but absorbing nevertheless, despite a so-so narration. The two-track plot follows the fortunes and love lives of a sergeant and a private. It effectively delineates the military and social attitudes and divisions of the time, including casual racism and antisemitism and an interesting dip into the homosexual demimonde in Honolulu. But It's a show-offy literary performance featuring NCO's debating dialectics, Shakespeare-quoting whores, and a zen master in the stockade. The author never used just one simile if he could think of five, and invented adverbs if actual ones weren't available. (This book would have driven Elmore Leonard mad.)

The narration is well-paced, considering the heft of the book, but the reader 's accents and vocal characterizations of the cast are off base at best and annoying at times.

I bought this in a special Audible sale/promotion of unabridged classics, and question whether it was really worth my time despite the special price.

The Commodore

The newly promoted Commodore returns to the scene of his first naval action - the Baltic. In a gripping adventure in the northern waters, Hornblower must use all his skill and experience to prevent a catastrophic war.

I love all of the Hornblower books, and this one had an accomplished performance. However, as noted by reviewer Kathryn below, the last chapter is missing. After I saw Kathryn's comment, I confirmed it by checking the printed book in the library. I don't understand why Audible doesn't correct or explain this. It's still worth listening to, but find a printed copy and spend an extra 5 minutes to finish the story.

Lieutenant Hornblower

The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannon shot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas.

If you've exhausted Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and miss tales of the British navy in the 18th-19th centuries, then the Hornblower books seem to be a worthy way to get your fix. The main character is appealing and the naval arcana is well-told, but this book lacked the sly social commentary that lace the O'Brian books. Nevertheless, it's a series I shall continue with. Excellent audiobook narration, with a variety of upper and lower class British accents delineating the characters.

The Night Circus

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

I got this audio solely because the narration is by the incomparable Jim Dale. Happily, the quality of the story lives up to the quality of the narrator. Cleverly plotted, magical, and moving. A must for fans of "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" and Harry Potter. My favorite book (in any format) since "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle."

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan brings her unique gifts as a novelist and short story writer to a compulsively listenable narrative that centers on Bennie Salazar, an aging punk rocker and record executive, and the beautiful Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs.

The book itself deserves 5 stars along with the Pulitzer Prize that it won. I picked up a copy of the book and will be experiencing it again. The tangentially connected storylines set up themes that reverberate as the narrative unfolds. The different perspectives on the passage of time...the "goon" of the title...really live up to the Proust epigraph that begins the book. The vision of the near-future is particularly plausible and hilarious at the same time. The performance, though, was a little too deadpan for my tastes; there is so much droll and delicious writing that a more accomplished actor could have had a lot of fun with it, along with the listener. Hence, my one-star deduction for the audiobook experience.

Shantaram

This mesmerizing first novel tells the epic journey of Lin, an escaped convict who flees maximum security prison in Australia to disappear into the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The keys to unlock the mysteries that bind Lin are held by two people: his mentor Khader Khan, mafia godfather and criminal-philosopher; and the beautiful, elusive Karla, whose passions are driven by dangerous secrets.

This thrilling story will have you googling the author to try to find out how much of it is true and how much is fiction, as it shares many details of the author's biography. It's an engrossing picture of life in Bombay and on the sub-continent, from the bottom up. A few too many portentous pronouncements and embroidery-sample epigrams keep me from giving this the fifth star, but it wouldn't have gotten to four if it were not for the skill of the reader, who channels multiple accents with great facility, making each character vivid and unique. I'm going to look into his other narrations.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.